Israel Elections

Even the Mediterranean beaches which once saw Arab terrorists come ashore to kill Israelis lacked any ominous shadows. The week of the election it was still too cold for swimmers. But hundreds of surfers in wet suits rode the waves as if in a peaceful invasion from the sea.

TEL AVIV -- The Israeli right's current political dominance is fed by a widespread yearning for Jewish roots, a deep-seated fear of Arabs, and an uncompromising mistrust of a "world," the so-called international community, with which Jews have a centuries-old dispute. The left's yearning for peace is seen as naive, if not an exercise in political lunacy (and in either case an unpardonable betrayal of Jewish identity).

Israel still embodies so many of the contradictions and challenges of a nation forged in a previous era. While there is some enthusiasm for Yair Lapid and Yesh Atid, it remains to be seen how many of these core issues will be resolved.